Jeremy Montgomery scored a game-high 20 points, Norris Cole added 14 and Trevon Harmon 13 helping Cleveland State snap an 10-game road losing streak to the Panthers.
Joe Totoraitis
Special to The Plain Dealer
MILWAUKEE, Wis. -- Gary Waters can finally smile as the Cleveland State Vikings leave Wisconsin.
Jeremy Montgomery scored a game-high 20 points, Norris Cole added 14 and Trevon Harmon 13 helping CSU snap an 10-game road losing streak to Wisconsin-Milwaukee and extend its school-record winning streak to 10 with an 82-59 victory over the Panthers on Saturday night at the U.S. Cellular Arena.
Waters finally got his first victory in Milwaukee, which has eluded him for five years. Cleveland State sank a season-high 14 3-pointers and won in Milwaukee for the first time since a 109-105 victory on Jan. 29, 2000.
The Vikings (10-0, 2-0 Horizon) became the first team in the nation to hit double figures in wins, opening the season with consecutive road wins against two teams that have dominated them for years.
Cleveland State was a combined 1-19 on its last 10 trips to Milwaukee and Green Bay prior to Thursday's 83-75 win over Wisconsin-Green Bay.
Waters said the team' commitment to defense was the difference.
"Last year, we were playing with a lot of young kids, and they didn't understand the defensive philosophy," he said after his team finished a stretch of five games in 11 days. "We know that you win ballgames by playing defense. We said that we're going to come into these places and make them a defensive game."
The Vikings did just that. Their pressure defense limited the Panthers to shooting 29.6 percent from the floor while forcing 13 turnovers, including 10 in the first half.
"Cleveland State is 10-0 for a reason," Panthers head coach Rob Jeter said. "They were determined to make something happen. We were beaten by a better team."
Tony Meier's 11 points led the Panthers (4-5, 1-1), while the Vikings were a season-high 63.8 percent from the field.
"We can shoot the ball," Waters said after the team made 30 of 47 shots. "We've got guards that can shoot the ball. We just haven't done it consistently."
Looking for the open man is something else they did very well. Cole had a season-high of nine of the team' season-high 18 assists. He said that simply being part of a good team.
"You can't have selfish guys if you want to talk about being a championship team," Cole said. "Moving the ball, sharing the ball, that's what gets everybody going. That makes us a hard team to defend when we've got the ball moving like that."
The Vikings had the ball moving and dropping from the start. The Panthers got the tip, but their first shot missed and Cole scooped up the rebound. He darted up the court, passed to Aaron Pogue for two points and a lead they Vikings never lost.
Cleveland State led, 46-21, at the half as Montgomery had 12 points, Harmon eight and Cole and Charlie Woods each had seven.
In the second half, Cole, a senior, hit a 3-pointer for a 66-34 lead with 11:53 to play and the Panthers never got it under 21 points the rest of the way. Montgomery had a team season-high five 3-pointers. Woods finished with 10 points.
Joe Totoraitis is a freelance writer based in Milwaukee.